Undergraduate Major in Anthropology
Anthropology is an ideal "liberal arts" major. It also serves as a major that, when well designed by the student and their adviser, prepares students for a wide range of professional careers, e.g., law, medicine, foreign service, social services, and business, among others. Courses for non-majors: Anthropology welcomes non-majors into many of its courses. Unless prerequisites are explicitly stated, 2000- and 3000-level courses do not have formal prerequisites and can be taken by students without prior experience in anthropology. Such students are welcome in these classes. For more information on the department's courses, see course offerings.
The major is structured to provide both general grounding in three subfields of anthropology (sociocultural anthropology, anthropological archaeology, and biological anthropology) and detailed focus on a particular area of concentration. Areas of concentration include a wide variety subjects within and between these three subfields. Topics ranging from identity politics and globalization to prehistory and human evolution can be pursued in classes focused on every major geographical region in the world. Upper-level courses span a range of topical and theoretical issues related to religion, gender, economics, colonialism, democratization, prehistoric cultures, race, behavioral evolution, and conservation, to name a few.
Requirements
No prerequisites are required to enter the anthropology major. Students should see the director of undergraduate studies to apply to the major and obtain an advisor. Majors prepare a short statement about their interests and goals for the major, and then meet with their advisor. Majors and advisors collaboratively build a program of study that reflects the student’s individual interests and the intellectual breadth of the field. Our goal is to provide a close and supportive advising relationship and a strong and coherent structure for the student’s major.
A minimum of 37 credits are necessary to complete the major. To complete the major, students must take:
- One class of 3 or more credits in each of the three subfields (sociocultural, archaeological, biological) at the 1000 or 2000 level.
- Anthr 3000: Introduction to Anthropological Theory
- Two other courses of at least 4 credits at the 3000 level that are designated “comparative survey” courses in the catalog.
- Two 4000 level courses, one of which must be a seminar course in your senior year (4000, 4258, 4260, and 4263 are not seminar courses and do not fill the requirements).
An additional 8 credits in elective courses, which may be in cognate disciplines with the approval of your advisor.
Exceptions to these requirements may be granted if a written petition is approved by the Director of Undergraduate Studies. No S/U credits or First-year Writing Seminars may count toward the major. A letter grade of C- or better is required in all courses counted toward the major.
For more information on the Undergraduate Major in Anthropology, contact our Director of Undergraduate Studies:
Andrew Willford
acw24@cornell.edu
607-255-2686
Office: McGraw 211